Route description

From its
terminus at NY 97 in the hamlet of Callicoon (located within the town of Delaware), NY 17B makes its way up out of the Delaware River valley on a winding path, much
like the other state roads in this thinly populated corner of New
York.NY 52A, the
first other state highway 17B encounters, leaves in a northerly
direction five miles (8 km) from the start. NY 52joins 17B not too long afterward.

Route 17B between White Lake and
Monticello.

A
half-mile afterwards, 52 continues its southward course to Narrowsburg while 17B splits off to the east on a good, wide
road that passes through mostly open farming country.Seven
miles along, NY 55 comes in
from the north to create another concurrency through White
Lake of before splitting off again, this time to
Barryville.After this minimally
built-up junction that constitutes the center of White Lake, the
vacation cottage community of Smallwood to the south of the road is responsible for
increased traffic in the summertime.

For most of the 20th century, the road was the major thoroughfare
that each June took thousands of kids to the many sleepaway camps
along the 17B corridor: Camp Ta-Go-La, Camp Kennybook, Camp Ma-Ho-Ge, Camp Chipinaw, Camp Ranger and
the Wel-Met Camps, to name a few. It also took many more to and
from the hotels and bungalow colonies such as The Esther
Manor,owned by the Goldstein family (where singer Neil Sedaka met his future wife,the daughter of
the owners and launched his celebrity career and comedian Jackie Mason got his start), and the Bradstan Country Hotel in White
Lake.

History

Between Fosterdale and Monticello, 17B follows the route of the old
Newburgh-Cochecton
Turnpike, elsewhere followed by the main NY 17 and, closer to
Newburgh, NY 17K. This
accounts for the straight, wide route much more amenable to modern
vehicular use than the other inland state highways in this half of
the county.

NY 17B was
assigned in the 1930
renumbering to its current alignment between Monticello and Callicoon and to modern NY
97 from Callicoon to Hancock. The route was truncated to its current
western terminus in Callicoon between 1938 and 1946.

Woodstock

The
normally lightly-trafficked road became the most-used in the state
in the middle of August 1969, when the legendary Woodstock
Festival was held in one of local dairy
farmer Max Yasgur's alfalfa fields at the
junction of Hurd and West Shore roads just off the highway in the
Town of
Bethel. Nearby sections of 17B between the site and
Monticello became cluttered with abandoned vehicles as concertgoers
raced to catch the three-day show.

Bethel now proudly refers to it on its signage welcoming visitors,
and it has become its major attraction. Stores along 17B near the
site sell relevant souvenirs, such as
tie-dyedT-shirts and
recordings by the artists who performed.